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The tougher a project is to tackle, the more George Keith enjoys his job.

“I like cutting-edge work, and that’s what I get to do here,” said the 31-year-old senior scientist at Rochester’s Cerion Advanced Materials, which manufactures performance nanoparticles and other complex materials for some of the largest chemical, energy, electronics and pharmaceutical companies in the world.

“The biggest challenge is that you really don’t know what you don’t know when you start a project,” he added. “You have to do a lot of reading and analysis on your own time.”

According to the New York State Department of Labor expects employment opportunities for physical scientists — those who focus on physical properties and energy instead of living organisms — in the Finger Lakes region to increase 9.3 percent between 2014 and 2024, with 10 annual openings.

Keith, who lives in Irondequoit, earned a bachelor’s degree in glass science engineering and a master’s degree in ceramic engineering, both from Alfred University. He has taken continuing education classes in statistics and project management, and is in the process of being certified as a project management professional through the Project Management Institute.

Keith must understand how liquid chemicals react with solid chemicals, as would a chemist. As a physical scientist, however, he dries that solution into a powder to get a desired chemical composition, which companies then use to introduce and scale products to the market.

While Keith cannot disclose what he is working on at the moment, the project is slated to last one year, a short timeframe for product development, and is his most challenging to date.

Being a physical scientist requires “a massive amount of planning and organization,” said Keith, who plans, executes and analyzes experiments, then revises the current plan of action to move forward on a particular project. He typically works about 50 hours a week.

“My work life is very structured,” he said, “but I love to make sure everyone’s having a good time while still getting our work done.”

Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in the Rochester area.

Physical scientists

The job: Physical scientists are professionals who specialize in sciences that do not deal with living organisms such as physics, chemistry, astronomy and geology. Instead, they focus on physical properties and energy. They may work in academic settings, private industry or for research organizations, and in teams with engineers and scientists from different disciplines.

The pay: Median annual earnings of physical scientists were roughly $96,070 per year in May 2015.

The prospects: Employment of physical scientists in the Finger Lakes region is expected to grow 9.3 percent between 2014 and 2024, with 10 annual openings.

The preparation: Physical scientists start their careers with a bachelor’s degree in their subject specialty. In most cases, to qualify for research positions, they must then spend two years obtaining a master’s degree and five to seven years for a doctorate.

Sources: New York State Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, Chron.com